There have been many devices used for exercising animals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,967 discloses a device for automatically exercising dogs by using an endless belt, pulleys and two support posts. The endless belt is suspended between an idler pulley and a drive pulley to provide a belt drive which is parallel to the guideway.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,399 shows a carriage device which is movable along a ground track. The ground track is a flat bottom plate with a stop or bumper. An anchoring element is used to fix the track in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,630 discloses a carriage and an overhead pulley for straight line exercising. The device is installed between two posts. The carriage which attaches to an animal and an endless belt which moves the carriage in a substantially straight line, the direction of travel of the carriage being reversed at each end of the line of travel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,478 shows rigid link members used for prevention of knotting and wrapping in tethers. A stationary post is shown to which the tethered animal is fastened.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,903 discloses a stationary retaining block which mounts an endless cable, confining the associated animal to a limited area. The guide assembly employs a plurality of stationery retaining blocks to provide a mount for an endless cable. A traveler member forms a slot so that the traveler member passes through the retaining blocks and traverses a path for restraining the movement of the associated animal to a limited area.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,675 is a tethering device for free movement with a rigid rod. The tethering device includes a solid elongate member to be connected adjacent to the collar of a dog so the dog will not be able to choke himself.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,233,649 shows a vertical post with an extended arm for circular exercising. The arm contains rollers, vertical rods and circular base, allowing the animal a certain range of freedom.
Each of these aforementioned devices, once installed, are basically permanent fixtures and are not intended for use as a portable exerciser. The more portable devices, such as leashes, greatly diminish the area allowed for exercising. This creates a problem for the animal owner who frequents a variety of locations, such as with camping or traveling, and desires a suitable exerciser for their animal. It would be a burden to carry and continually reinstall the heavy or awkward equipment previously needed for such an animal exerciser.
The above prior art summaries are merely representative of portions of the inventions disclosed in each reference. In no instance should these summaries substitute for a through reading of each individual reference.